Local Congressman Leads Call for Censure

The U.S. House voted today to censure Representative Charles Rangel (D-NY). Rangel had apologized and asked for leniency from the House. He was hoping for a private rebuke rather than a public censure after being found guilty of 11 counts of House ethics violations. But the House overwhelmingly voted to conduct its first public rebuke since the 1980's.

Austin Republican Michael McCaul was ranking member of the committee that oversaw the investigation into Rangel's allegations of misconduct. He argued for censure in an impassioned floor speech.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin) also voted for censure. He issued a one sentence explanation.

“Because this involved serious and extended misconduct, I voted for this rarely applied censure as recommended by a bipartisan ethics committee that studied this matter for more than two years.”